


It's time

by niallhoranbitches



Category: One Direction (Band), Zayn Malik (Musician)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Artist Zayn, F/F, Genderswap, Getting Back Together, Light Angst, Louis is only mentioned, M/M, Paddy the Puppy is a very important character here, Teacher Liam, always-a-girl Liam - Freeform, always-a-girl zayn, but it didn't came out too angsty, side narry, this supposed to be angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-10
Updated: 2016-12-10
Packaged: 2018-08-31 22:48:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8596834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/niallhoranbitches/pseuds/niallhoranbitches
Summary: It was supposed to be just an ordinary day, spent with her dog at the park. But the Universe decided otherwise. After all that had happened, it was time for Zayn and Liam to meet again.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [papurosaurusrexx](https://archiveofourown.org/users/papurosaurusrexx/gifts).



> All the credits should go to my wonderful beta. Without you, it would still be just an unfinished sketch.

There is a loud thud coming from the kitchen, followed by a scared yelp and a ticking noise of claws on tiles. Zayn jumps up from the couch and hurries to where the sounds come from. Although she already knows what and who she’ll find; it had been quiet for too long.

As Zayn enters the room, she can't help but let out a groan. She knew that even though having a tablecloth in the kitchen was nice, it also wasn’t necessary and had more cons than pros – definitely if you had a dog that loved biting and pulling at everything he could reach. But Zayn had gotten it from her mother, who had insisted that it would look _lovely_ and make the place _so much more cosy_ and all that crap.

So Zayn took it. While, actually, she should’ve listened to herself instead. Because the same tablecloth is now lying on the ground, along with everything else that was still on the table, including her bag with its whole content spread across the kitchen tiles.

_Sigh._

“Paddy! Why are you doing this to me again?” Zayn whines, turning around to face the maker of this whole mess.

The puppy is sitting in the corner, with his head turned towards the wall like a toddler who was given a time-out. When Zayn approaches him, the dog looks at her with the most innocent puppy eyes she had ever seen. Ah. That’s why they call it puppy eyes.

She crouches on the floor, tugging playfully at his ears.

“You've been behaving for the past 10 minutes, I thought you were about to set yourself a new record but you had to mess something up again, didn’t you?” Zayn asks as she crouches on the floor next to the puppy, tugging playfully at its ears and getting a lick on her face as an answer.

“You're not a saint at all, Patrick, are you? You may look like one, but you’re a devil in disguise! I should’ve known Niall would corrupt you with his Irish wildness.” Zayn makes a mental note to keep Niall away from Patrick until she has trained him better. The dog, not Niall. Although maybe Niall could use a bit of training too.

Paddy just barks happily, resting his paws on Zayn’s chest and tries to lick her face again. Zayn sighs but can't fight her smile. When the puppy loses his interest and runs to another room for whatever reason – probably to cause some more havoc –, Zayn starts cleaning up the mess. It takes a while, but thankfully the sun is shining through the window so the warmth on her back makes crawling over the cold kitchen tiles a lot less bad. She briefly looks out the window; the weather looks surprisingly nice. There are only a few clouds in the sky and the outside world has been brightened up by the soft autumn sun. A perfect day for a walk in the park, so it seems.

When there is finally nothing left on the floor and Zayn has carefully hidden the tablecloth in one of the kitchen cabinets, she grabs her bag and throws in some pencils and her sketchbook before leaving the kitchen to find Paddy. Thankfully, the puppy is sitting calmly on the rug in the living room. So Zayn goes to put on her coat and wraps a scarf tightly around her neck. Autumn has only just started, but Zayn already misses summer; she has the awful tendency to freeze her butt off as soon as the outside temperatures drop beneath the summer average.

When she is properly tucked in, she takes Patrick’s leash from the hanger by the door.

“Paddy! Come here, buddy!” Zayn calls and less than a second later, a ball of fluff is standing by her side.

“You wanna go for a walk?” she asks, as if the answer isn’t obvious when Patrick starts jumping up and down, trying to catch the end of the leather strap. It takes a good moment to calm Patrick down enough to attach the leash to his collar. And when she has finally managed to and they are ready to leave the apartment, Zayn is beaded with sweat because _of course_ Patrick wouldn’t let her off without a small fight.

When she walks at a slow pace, it usually takes Zayn about half an hour to get to the park. But today she is there in less than 15 minutes, because dear Patrick kept tugging at his leash and dragging Zayn at almost a running pace to the park he is apparently so eager to get to. Despite still being a small puppy, Patrick has the strength of an adult dog.

Upon their arrival at their destiny, Zayn’s scarf is hanging from her should and the inside of her coat is wet with sweat. So she happily takes a seat on the first bench she sees to catch her breath. Who needs working out when you have a puppy, really?

“Easy, easy, you crazy thing.” she says to the puppy who is excitedly wiggling its tail. She gently pats Patrick’s head. “We really should do it more often, shouldn't we? Look how happy you are!”

Patrick just barks in reply and turns around to nuzzle some nearby leaves before whining sadly when the leash doesn’t let him go any further. Zayn scolds him when he tries to bite through it.

“Will you be a good boy if I let you free?” she asks, “Can I trust you?” When the puppy gives his most innocent look, Zayn laughs and is convinced enough to take Patrick off the leash. “You look like a responsible little puppy.” she says because, thankfully, despite his mischievous nature, Patrick is a good dog and has never run away or attacked anyone. He is a cross-breed and a literal ball of sunshine (his mother was a golden retriever) so Zayn isn't all too worried about letting him wander by himself.

After a few peaceful minutes, Zayn realizes she has actually chosen, rather absentmindedly, a very nice place to sit. In front of her, on the other side of the path stands a huge chestnut tree, soft sunbeams shining through the gaps between the already multi-coloured leaves. Next to the tree a tiny, old fountain can be found. It doesn’t seem like anyone ever tried to restore it, as it looks rather rusted and very misplaced. Perhaps they had hoped the fountain would waste away on its own. Zayn thinks it’s a shame, but is still happy to sit here, as it makes for a pretty view. She rummages through her bag, trying to find one of her pencils in the seemingly bottomless pit. Has she by any chance gotten hold of Hermoine’s bag? It certainly appears so. Or maybe it really is Zayn’s bag and she’s just refusing to admit that she has once again forgotten to buy a pencil case. She makes a mental note that she almost immediately forgets as soon as she starts sketching the fountain in front of her.

Drawing has always been one of Zayn’s passions. She takes after her father in that aspect; every inch of every wall of her childhood room was covered by her dad's paintings and drawings, and eventually, some of Zayn’s own creations. Art was Zayn’s way of expressing her feelings, relaxing or killing the boredom. In other words, it has always been an important part of her life.

Zayn zones out, drawing and nodding along to the song that has been stuck in her head since she heard it on the radio that morning. Then suddenly the sound of a dog barking loudly bursts through her peaceful bubble and Zayn snaps her head up just in time to see Patrick running off to the other side of the park.

_Uh oh._

“Paddy!” she calls after him, “Come back here!” But of course he doesn’t listen.

Time for another work-out then. Because Patrick doesn’t slow down so Zayn has to run after him. She grabs her bag, shoving everything in it as quickly as she can, and starts chasing after him. She calls his name the whole way, but Patrick only stops when he reaches his target: a girl jogging through the park. He barks happily at her and Zayn sees the girl slow down and eventually stop. She crouches down to pet Patrick, which of course makes the puppy extremely happy.

When Zayn finally reaches the both of them, she is terribly out of breath and a bit embarrassed because now the sporty girl knows Zayn is very much _not_ sporty.

“I'm sorry... about him...” she apologizes, wheezing a bit, “He's never ran away... before...”

She fights the need to bend over and rest hands on her knees to calm down. _Dammit_ , her condition seems to be in a much worse state than she originally had thought, or hoped. Zayn desperately tries not to show the girl how much trouble she is having after running for two minutes, so she focusses on a very nice spot on the ground and takes a few deep breaths.

“Oh don't be sorry, he's lovely!” the girl says. Her voice sounds oddly familiar so Zayn looks up from the pretty spot on the ground to take in the girl properly. Unfortunately, Zayn can only see the girls back, as she is turned away from her and towards Patrick. But then the girl stops petting the puppy and turns around to look at Zayn over her shoulder. Zayn’s breath hitches in her throat and she’s pretty sure it has nothing to do with being out of shape.

“Hello, Zayn” Liam says and Zayn's heart does a weird thing.

How–

How is this even possible? What the hell is she doing here? Liam is literally the last person Zayn had expected to see. It would’ve been more probable for Zayn to meet an alien in this goddamned Bradford park, than Liam. _Anyone_ or _anything_ but Liam, actually. So Zayn just stands there, her heart is hammering in her chest and utterly speechless. She watches Liam who's still petting Patrick, probably to keep him from running away again. Her head is still turned to Zayn and Zayn notices her appearance hasn’t changed one bit in the past year. Liam is still amazingly beautiful, even dressed in baggy running gear. Well, to be fair, Zayn had always like her in oversized hoodies and joggers. Liam’s hair is put up in a messy ponytail and Zayn’s gaze glides over Liam’s face until she reaches Liam’s big brown eyes, her rosy cheeks and plump lips, curved into a cautious smile. Zayn doesn’t dare let her eyes linger, because she can already feel her fingers twitch, craving to reach out and touch Liam. But she can’t. It’s far too late for that.

“Liam?” Zayn whispers before she even realizes her lips are moving. Then she is speechless once more; because, what can she say? Does she even _want_ to say anything? Well, the only thing she feels like doing right now is teleporting to the other side of the country. Or faint and hope Liam catches her when she falls. Fainting actually seems like a possibility, because Zayn’s already feeling rather dizzy. Perhaps it is because she’s been staring at Liam for the past two minutes without saying anything. Oops.

Zayn is jolted out of her trance when Patrick nudges her leg with his head, whining. Zayn shakes her head to clear her mind and get a grip on herself again. Not that she really manages to, but at least she’s able to move and talk again. That should do.

“I mean... hi.” she stammers, “It's nice to see ya. But I'm... in a rush. Kinda. I'd better–” And then she quickly turns on her heels and stalks away. She doesn’t even give Liam the time to say anything or get up from where she was crouching on the ground. Zayn needs to get away. Thankfully, Patrick follows her dutifully. The puppy is trotting next to her leg, and glances up at her a few times as if to ask if everything is ok. But it’s not. Things are not really ok. That’s why Zayn doesn’t respond or turn around when she hears Liam call her name. Instead, she quickens her pace and sets route to home. She only slows down a little when Patrick barks and Zayn realises they’re already out of the park and Patrick is going without a leash. So she stops, crouches in the middle of the sidewalk and pets Patrick’s head gently.

“I'm so sorry I wasn’t paying attention to you, Paddy boy. You could’ve gotten lost…” she says quietly, “but you’re a clever puppy, aren’t you? Walking next to me like a good boy?”

The puppy answer with a happy “woof”, which Zayn takes as a yes, and then tries to place his dirty paws in her lap. Fortunately, Zayn manages to grab them before they can stain her jeans – they’re new so not today please, thank you very much.

“Let me find your leash so we can go home…” Zayn mumbles and starts rummaging through her bag. She makes a frustrated noise when she doesn’t immediately find it, thinking that she lost it at the park and will have to go back. But then her fingers find the leather strap at the bottom of the bag and Zayn lets out a relieved sigh.

This time Patrick doesn’t protest when Zayn tries to attach the leash to his collar, so when they start walking again, Zayn feels a lot calmer. She’s not entirely sure whether it’s because she needed to focus on a normal and simple task rather than thinking about her past, or whether it’s because of Patrick’s miraculous puppy powers. Now that she feels better, though, Zayn can admit that maybe, just maybe, she overreacted a bit. But don’t you have the right to, when you’ve just seen the love of your life for the first time in over a year?

They’re at the flat again in less than 15 minutes. Zayn walks straight to the kitchen after taking off her shoes and throwing her coat over the dresser – she hasn’t quite learned how to hang it properly yet, even after Patrick had dragged it all over the flat and had gotten it covered in dirt and drool. It had only happened once, though, so she still has hope that Patrick will leave it be. He probably likes the tablecloth more, anyway.

Zayn puts the kettle on and grabs her favourite mug from the kitchen cabinet. She’s not making hot chocolate because she’s feeling cold (she’s actually feeling rather hot after running and experiencing such intense emotions from seeing Liam), but because hot chocolate makes everything better. And Zayn really wants to feel better right now. As she pours the boiling water in her mug with cocoa powder, the firmly ignores all the beeps coming from her pocket. Now that’s Zayn’s inside, her phone is connecting to the Wi-Fi and is receiving an endless stream of (probably useless) notifications. Patrick, though, answers every noise with a bark and he’s looking rather unhappy when the beeps eventually stop.

She stirs her hot chocolate, leaves the tiny kitchen and walks into the slightly bigger living room with her mug in on hand and her phone in the other. She sits down on the couch, takes a sip from her mug and regrets it immediately because the drink is still hot as hell – right, _hot_ chocolate – and leaves her with a burned tongue instead of sweetness and joy. She puts the mug down on the coffee table to let it cool of a bit and leans back into the couch with a relieved sigh. Zayn decides to check her messages and before she has even unlocked her phone, her little bundle of joy hops on the couch next to her. Patrick minces, trying to get comfortable and Zayn’s arm is the only thing keeping him from falling to the floor. Finally, he cuddles close to her side, resting his head on Zayn’s belly. Zayn runs her fingers through the soft, sandy fur and finally takes a look at her phone. There’s a text from Harry, a few notifications of unread emails and a reminder of someone’s birthday. Zayn will take a look at them later, because on the top is her most recent notification, one that causes her heart to clench rather unpleasantly; a Facebook message from Liam.

Zayn hesitates for a moment. Why is this happening? When Liam and Zayn broke up a year ago, they said they would try to stay friends and yet, neither of them tried to contact the other. So why now? And what is Liam doing back in Bradford? When the last thing Zayn knew about her whereabouts, Liam was living in London.

She has the feeling that opening the Liam’s message will answer a few of her questions, but she’s not sure if she wants to know. Instead, Zayn decides to check every other notification: she replies to Harry’s text about meeting tonight, she reads the emails instead of deleting them and then, finally, when she has no excuses left, she opens Liam’s message.

_Hello Zayn :) im sorry for startling you today at the park. im not even sure if there is something to be sorry about, but i still think that I should… i dont know, have warned you earlier. i know we lost touch a bit... well, actually we didn’t talk at all anymore, but still… Anyway, im in town again, as you already know and i was thinking… Maybe you’d like to meet? Tomorrow? At Cinnamon, if it still exists?_

Zayn’s fingers hoover over her phone’s keyboard, thinking about what she should reply. She has no idea what to say, or what to feel. The only thing that she knows is that, despite the shock of seeing Liam and all the bad memories of their break-up, it was still nice to see Liam again. Zayn doesn’t want to admit it, but he has missed Liam. Still misses her, actually. It’s been so long since she’s seen her… Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to catch up and ask what Liam has been up to in the big and busy city of London. Zayn ignores the unsettling feeling in her heart and the warning voice in the back of her head saying that this is a bad idea. Whether this is a good idea or not, Zayn still thinks she kind of owns it to Liam after running away like that earlier. They did decide to stay friends when they broke up and even if they didn’t quite manage to actually do so, this might be an opportunity to at least fix one of the cracks in their relationship.

So Zayn types a reply before she can change her mind and asks if Liam’s free at 3pm tomorrow.

***

“Are you sure this isn’t a bad idea?” Niall asks when Zayn has explained what happened. They’re all (Niall, Harry and Zayn) sitting in Niall’s living room, drinking beer and watching a movie. Well, they’re mostly drinking beer because none of them is actually paying attention to the movie.

Zayn throws her head back, groaning, and Harry chuckles. “Poor darling,” he comments before turning to Niall, “And you, stop killing Zayn’s optimism.” He pats Niall’s cheek affectionately as the blonde pulls a face and moves his face away, but not without sparkling eyes. Zayn thinks they’re absolutely disgusting when they’re like this. But of course she doesn’t say that out loud. There’s no need to be impolite just because Zayn can’t deal with couples right now.

“What’s wrong with wanting to meet an old… friend?” Zayn asks hesitantly and Niall raises his eyebrows at the term, making Zayn regret telling him everything; he knows her too well.

“Nothing, of course.” Niall replies conversationally, “If, you know, she actually was just an old friend of yours.” Zayn goes to butt in but Niall holds up a fingers, stopping her. “Don’t you dare tell me otherwise. I distinctly remember how you were crying about her being your only true love when we went to the pub the other night. I’m not surprised you've forgotten about it since I had to carry your wasted arse to your apartment.”

“Don’t you need to, like, shut up, or something?” Zayn mumbles and makes a mental note to look up on Google later how effective dog training is for people. She turns her head away and pretends she's completely caught up in the movie, although she’s not even sure what they are watching. She thinks about Niall’s words. One, she didn’t cry. Two, Zayn does remember that night and everything she said. And three, that means she also remembers saying how Liam was her one and only and how much she meant it. Because Zayn had always thought Liam would be the one she’d grow old with. That doesn’t mean, however, that she’s still in love with Liam. Or has any other kind of feelings for her, for that matter.

“What Niall is trying to say,” she hears Harry, the peacemaker, say, “is that were just worried about you. We don't want you to get hurt…” There is a small pause in which the word ‘again’ would fit perfectly. It isn’t said, but everyone’s clearly thinking it. But honestly, how harmful can just one meeting be? She voices her thought out loud, but she’s not sure if she wants to hear the answer. Because truth be told, Zayn is nervous. She has been from the minute her thumb pressed the button ‘send’ when she agreed to meeting Liam. Her stomach does somersaults every time she thinks about tomorrow. And she doesn’t think it’s the good kind of somersaults. She wants to see Liam but she also really don’t. See, even Zayn herself doesn’t know how to feel. She barely understand herself, so doesn’t expect anyone else to.

“I’m not saying one meeting is harmful, Zee.” Niall relents and adds a smile to makes Zayn feel better.

“Yeah, maybe that's what you need?” Harry adds, “You've missed Liam, that much is obvious, so maybe you two can try to be friends again. Or get closure, at least.”

Zayn feels the urge to clarify that she doesn't need any closure, but she remains silent. Nobody would believe her anyway. That, and the fact that Niall would bring up what she said the last time they went out for a drink. Which would be terribly unfair, because it’s not like Zayn can help that she has the tendency to overshare when she’s drunk.

It appears Niall and Harry assume this is the end of their conversation, because they don’t say anything more. Zayn, however, is still lost in her thoughts, torn between wanting to meet Liam and running away like she today. Zayn is so afraid everything will go to shit again, but she tries her best not let her anxiety and worries get the best of her. The only way to find out whether the meeting can have a good outcome or not is, in fact, actually go to meet Liam tomorrow.

Zayn tries to focus on the movie again, but it’s quite pointless. They’re nearing the end and Zayn has absolutely no clue what the film is about. She hears a wet noise to her left and apparently she hasn't any survival instinct, because she glances in that direction and sees her two best friends snogging on the couch. Of course. Zayn can't help the loud sigh that escapes her mouth. The two boys quite snogging and look up, Niall with a grin and Harry thankfully with the decency to look at least a bit sorry.

“You two are disgusting,” Zayn says out loud this time, not caring about politeness. “Why are we friends again?”

“Because we love you.” Harry states truthfully, trying to push Niall away who’s going in for another kiss.

“And you love us. Don't you dare deny it.” Niall mumbles into Harry’s hand that’s now covering his mouth. Good. He should do that more often.

Zayn huffs because no, she can’t deny that, and turns to face the television again to watch the credits roll.

***

Never in her entire life has Zayn woken up early on a day off. Until today, that is. Which is absolutely fan-tast-ic because now she has even more time to worry about meeting Liam today. She swears the universe hates her, especially when finished all her daily tasks early and eventually just lies on the couch with nothing more to do but wait. With nothing else to keep her thoughts away from Liam. Patrick jumps on the couch next to her and looks at her with a questioning expression. Zayn is sure the puppy has some kind of super skills with which he is able to sense her mood.

“You wanna go out, Paddy boy?” Zayn asks the puppy, petting its head. Liam probably wouldn’t mind Patrick being present today, and neither would the café since they have an outside terrace where dogs are allowed. So it’s decided; the dog will come. The thought makes Zayn feel calmer, because then Patrick can offer her some kind of emotional support (she feels like she’ll need it).

Of course, even with all her free time, Zayn starts getting ready too late. When she finally manages to leave the flat, it’s already five to three and it’s a ten-minute walk to the coffee shop. Shit.

Zayn all but runs to Cinnamon Café, while Patrick follows her happily, capering next to her. When she reaches the café just in time, she’s breathless again. Dammit, why does this always happen when she’s about to meet up with Liam?

Speaking of the devil, Liam is standing in front of the tiny building where they always used to meet when they were still together. Zayn wonders of Liam chose it on purpose. When Liam sees Zayn walking up to her with, she smiles shyly and Zayn waves in return.

“Hi, Zayn,” Liam greets, when Zayn reaches her and they’re standing in front of each other. Before Zayn can say hello back, Liam leans in and places a soft kiss on Zayn’s cheek. She backs away just as quickly, blushing and Zayn can feel her own cheeks heat up as well. Then, thankfully, Liam crouches down to pet Patrick so Zayn can try to get her face under control. She manages to, but not without biting her lower lip to keep herself from smiling.

“The weather’s nice today, we should sit outside.” Liam says, more to Patrick then to Zayn because for some reason she’s refusing to look at Zayn. Zayn’s almost worried, if it weren’t for the faint red that is still covering Liam’s cheeks. “How about you pick a table and I’ll go get us some drinks?” Liam asks and heads inside before Zayn can even answer.

“Alright then. Come, Paddy boy, let’s go find us a nice spot.” she tells the puppy and leads them inside and to the back terrace, where she chooses one of the table in the corner. Zayn sits down and observes Patrick who’s trying to familiarise himself with the new surroundings. The process keeps Zayn busy enough so she doesn’t have to think about how awkward it probably will be when Liam returns with their drinks.

Zayn unzips her coat, takes off her scarf and leans back in the chair, trying to make herself more comfortable. It’s not warm enough outside to take off her coat completely, but even though the temperatures aren’t as nice as in late spring, the beautiful colours of early autumn make up for it. Come to think of it, Zayn is actually feeling rather warm. She tries to tell herself it’s because the autumn colours make everything warmer and it’s not because Liam is approaching their table carrying two big mugs. She places them on the table before she takes a seat across from Zayn. The sweet smell of caramel latte with whipped cream reaches Zayn’s nostrils and a grin spreads across Zayn’s face when she realizes that Liam still knows what her favourite drink is. Liam herself has ordered her typical simple black coffee with a dash of milk.

“Some things never change, do they?” Zayn voices her thoughts with a smile, wrapping her fingers around the mug in an attempt to warm them up.

Liam hums and does the same. “How are you?” she asks sweetly, then, “We haven't talked in ages.”

Zayn can’t help the guilt from creeping through her body. Liam looks so sad, as if she really expected them to keep in touch after they broke up. And it’s not like Zayn didn’t want to, but it just was too hard. Because their break-up wasn’t all screaming and fighting, like some break-ups go. No, theirs was peaceful and mutual. They broke up because they loved each other too much.

Liam and Zayn used to be so happy. They were so in love that Harry and Niall joked countless times about the two girls getting married within the year. Unfortunately, that possibility went to bust when Liam was offered a job in London. And while that seemed like good news to Liam, who had been trying to find a teaching job in Bradford for months but wasn’t able to, it didn’t to Zayn. Because Zayn knew Liam would take the job – it was a great offer anyway – and would ask Zayn to move with her to London. And while to anyone else that would seem like a great idea, Zayn doesn’t deal well with change. Definitely not if it meant leaving her family and friends behind in Bradford to move to a city so big she could drown in it if she didn’t try to keep her head above water. And to do that, Zayn would have to build a new life there, meet new people and make new friends, all the while missing her old ones. And even though London is a great place for an artist like Zayn, she just wasn’t ready yet.

But Liam was. And that’s why Zayn had to let her go. They had a few minor fights about it, but eventually decided they loved each other too much to force the other to do something they didn’t want. So they packed Liam’s boxes in their shared flat together and stained the labels with tears. It wasn’t easy.

A few months after Liam had left, the empty space she had created in their flat still hadn’t been filled and Zayn had felt lonely. That’s where Patrick came into the story. He helped Zayn in many ways, but unfortunately didn’t make him miss Liam any less. But Zayn knew they had made the right decision; it just wasn’t their time yet. Maybe at one point they’d want the same things. A voice in the back of Zayn’s head suggest that today might be that day, but Zayn doesn’t dare hope.

She scratches the back of her neck, thinking of a way to answer Liam’s question. “Well,” she starts, “not much has changed, actually.” she shrugs. “I'm still living in the same place, still organising art courses for kids, still friends with the same old dorks…”

“Still not a big fan of changes, then?” Liam asks warily and Zayn shifts uncomfortably in her chair before looking away. Zayn knows the question isn’t meant to make her feel bad, because there’s a gentle smile on Liam’s face, but Zayn can’t help but feel like she needs to defend herself.

“If something's good, why change it?” Zayn answers, pulling at the hem of her sweater, then realises that gives her nervousness away so she clears her throat and asks, “How are you then? How’s living in London?”

“A bit… overwhelming,” Liam admits with a sigh. “Too busy, too big and too far away from…” she looks away, “you know, everyone.”

Zayn furrows her brows. She almost can’t believe this is the same Liam who was so excited about moving to the capital, to the place where so many opportunities lay. Nothing could’ve stopped her back then, not even Zayn.

“Is your job not going well then?” Zayn asks, confused.

“Oh, no, the job was the best part.” Liam shakes her head. “It was basically the only reason why I didn’t leave, why I stayed so long even though a part of me wanted to come back. The kids were amazing, it was an absolute joy to teach them. It was very hard for me to resign, but–”

“You resigned?” Zayn asks, eyes wide. “Why?”

Zayn watches Liam become visibly more nervous. She bites her lips and starts to play with the mug in her hands. And she still looks so damn cute, Zayn notices, then smacks herself figuratively on the head because now’s not the time and focusses on Liam’s words when she starts to speak again.

“Because I.. came back? To Bradford.” Liam glances at Zayn as if to read her expression because she looks as uncertain as Zayn is feeling right now. “I… London wasn’t what I expected it to be. It felt more… lonely than I thought it would.” She smiles faintly to cover the sadness that is obvious in her eyes.

Liam stops playing with her mug and lies one of her hand on top of the table, fingers reaching out as if she wants to intertwine them with Zayn’s but isn’t sure if she’s allowed to. So instead, she just places her hand on the tablecloth, a few inches away from Zayn’s as if to say _it’s up to you_. Zayn looks down at their hands but is too hesitant to do anything, the she lets her gaze glide up to Liam’s face. Liam’s lips are pressed tightly together; she’s trying not to show her emotions but Zayn has learned to read her well. She looks hopeful and scared at the same time, much like Zayn.

“Yeah, I can imagine that,” Zayn agrees after a short moment of silence, still debating whether to take Liam’s hand or not. She needs to ask something first.

“Didn’t you make any friends? Or… date anyone?” As soon as the words leave her mouth, Zayn feels her cheeks heat up. She thinks about backing out but she can’t find a way that wouldn’t make the situation any weirder.

Fortunately, Liam just chuckles before taking another sip of her coffee. “I mean, I didn't go there to date people…” Liam hesitates and then continues a bit awkwardly, “Well, there was Lou…”

Ah, yes. Louis.

Zayn knew her, well, knew of her, more like. She might or might not have checked Liam’s Facebook profile every other week to see who the people were who had filled the place in Liam’s life that Zayn had left behind. In her defence, she mostly did this while she was drunk. Anyway, she had seen Louis quite a few times on Liam’s Facebook. The mischievous fairy, Zayn had called her; Louis had a childish grin, short hair and sparkling eyes. From all the pictures taken at parties, Zayn could gather Liam and Louis went out together a lot. And if Zayn guesses right, they had also kind of dated and… Zayn wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Well, she did know what she felt, and it felt more like jealousy, but Zayn didn’t think she had the right to. Not anymore.

“...but she was more like a friend to me anyway.” Liam continues and Zayn is trying so hard not to look as relieved as she feels that she misses Liam’s next words. “She wasn't you.”

“What?” Zayn breathes out, not sure if she’s heard correctly.

At that moment Patrick remind them of his presence, wriggling himself between Zayn’s ankles and eventually resting his head on Zayn's boots. It feels a lot like a supportive gesture and Zayn is happy she brought the puppy with her today.

“She wasn't you.” Liam repeats without hesitation and looks Zayn straight in the eyes.

“Liam…” Zayn’s at a loss for words. What is Liam trying to do? Why did she come back?

“Sorry, I know it’s not fair of me to say such a thing. I know we've broken up and you’ve probably moved on and so should I but…” Liam’s words start to come out faster, as if she needs to get them out before she can change her mind. “I just... Sometimes I think moving to London was the worst thing I’ve ever done. No, scratch that. Breaking up with you is the worst thing I’ve ever done. And I–”

As if Zayn’s body knows these are the words she’s been waiting for, Zayn’s hand covers Liam’s. Liam instantly stops talking when Zayn entwines their fingers.

“I know what you mean.” Zayn admits silently, proud that she manages to sounds calm even though her heart is beating like crazy. “I regret that we’ve broken up, too. You were the best thing that ever happened to me.” Liam smiles at that. “But… it’s been a year.” Zayn continues and Liam’s smile falter slightly, “I can’t just pretend that we haven’t spent the past year apart. I can’t pretend it didn’t happen.”

“Oh no, Zee, I’m not asking you to forget the past year. I’m not expecting you to come back to me right away. I just thought that maybe… We could try?” Liam sounds hesitant but her eyes are shining with hope.

“Cause you know, if something’s good, why change it?” She winks. “We changed something that was good Zayn. So good. And I’ve regretted it every day I was in London. But I also know I needed to figure out for myself what I wanted. It wasn’t our time yet, was it? But it is now.”  
She holds Zayn’s hand tighter. “Please.”

Zayn opens her mouth to respond but before she can say anything, she is interrupted by a loud bark and Patrick wriggling away from between her legs. The puppy jumps on Liam’s lap, spilling Liam’s coffee in the process but Liam doesn’t seem to mind as she laughs when Patrick licks her face.

“Well,” Zayn giggles, watching Liam trying to steady Patrick with a smile, “I guess Paddy answered for me.”

Liam looks up with a smile so wide it could almost rival Zayn’s. Her whole face lights up and Zayn knows this is the right decision.

“I’ve missed you.” she says.

“I’ve missed you too, Zee. Every day.” Liam replies and rubs her thumb over Zayn’s hand.

And Liam was right, Zayn thinks; it’s time.


End file.
